What a weekend

Well I made it out to Moses Lake, but didn't stay the duration.

My Mom was admitted to the hospital for weakness on her right side, trouble breathing, chest tightness, and some painful tingling down her right leg... It turned out that an operation was immediately necessary to avoid further spinal cord damage and/or paralysis from the neck down. It was a complicated procedure that was supposed to take 2-2 1/2 hours, but actually turned into 4. They went in through the front of her throat, moved all her vocal 'stuff' out of the way, removed 3 vertebrae, added a cage - which they filled with bone fragments (apparently that would grow together to give more protection to the spine), added a metal plate and a few pegs/screws... Absolutely amazing to me the stuff they can do! She did end up with 2 blood clots the night of the operation (praise God someone was in the room to when she couldn't breathe and caught them quickly) they were able to suction both out. An additional draining tube went into the incision site at that time as well so she was rather uncomfortable, therefore mercifully drugged up for the rest of the night!

Believe it or not, this turned out to be a total answer to prayer! I was scared that it could be from (another) stroke or her MS and that it would be irreversible... Now she's feeling SO much better! Both draining tubes were removed yesterday, her sensory issues with the leg subsided almost immediately - or at least as soon as they let up on the drugs so that she could actually feel something. Today she was so strong, she got up in her walker and got herself to the bathroom. We got a little chair for the shower and washed her hair, shaved her legs and got her yucky chipped nail polish off from a really old pedicure. It was a bit tiring but she felt better after that. We watched a mediocre Jennifer Garner movie and a few marathon SVU episodes between "really long blinks" :o) They're saying that she'll be getting her strength back with every new day and that with some help, rehab, and a few weeks off of work - she'll be back to 'better than normal'. God is so good! Confusing at times, but oh so good!

I was able to enjoy moments with Aubrey and the kids as well! The girls are getting so big, so fast! I love the little conversations they have with each other! There are SO many cute little quotes I heard and am so bummed that I've already forgotten a few... Aubrey, how do you keep track?! Brady turned 1 today, he's such a good baby!

A few things I learned:

• Never trust the Greyhound bus schedules, online or by phone. Always go to the ticket counter!
  
• If you don't take your sick mommy soup, you're a bad girl! - thank you Lexi
• Reagan's skirts can walk, jump into sinks and turn on the water - ALL by themselves!
• Always check the dates on mini mart ice cream cartons! Apparently no one has liked strawberry ice cream in Moses Lake since before November.

Aubrey, thank you for being so great this weekend! 5 kids, a husband, house to keep, Vacation Bible School nursery duty, and what turned into an emotional house guest depriving you of sleep - You truly are Super Woman! I love you!

In all of this, I was able to snap a few pictures though :o)

Brady in one of the birthday outfits from us

(L-R) Lexi, Lorelai, Makenna & Reagan

Little Chicks

This didn't work out as well as we'd hoped. If Brady's not strapped down he's moving... And it's 97 degrees outside!

The twins

Last Weekend

We met up with Jared and Emily and went to the Aquarium, then back to their house for a BBQ and a UFC fight. Jordan, Shina and their little boy Eli came fro the BBQ/fight too... By the end of the night Ben was absolutely exhausted. He worked Friday night and then shooting Saturday morning with his Dad, to then coming home to get me for our day with Em and Jared! By the time we got home he was on his 32nd hour without sleep. He did take a couple 10-15 minutes naps in the car but other than that - he was up!

Auburn - 18, Steel Lake - 10

So I may be a bit biased... But I think he's the cutest little ball player ever!

Playing Right

All Star boy (that's Nick's T-Ball picture on his star in the foreground)

Nick's hit

Nick at 1st base - he came around to score this inning!

Nick at far right thinking, 'Sissy are you seriously taking another picture!?'

In 2 Days....

I'll be leaving with Aunt Teresa to go over the mountains (and through the 'desert') to be dropped off at Aubrey's, for 4 days! I'm so excited! As much as I really hate leaving Ben behind - I'm can't wait to see them, and to catch up on the mini road trip!!

Soda, Pop or Coke?

Just peaked my interest... I actually say 'soda' and now that I think of it - I have no idea why! Neither of my parents do, nor does anyone else in my family!

I do remember going to Florida with my Mom and Tiffany and ordering a "coke" and then the waitress asked me what kind I wanted, so I said coke again and she nodded. Then she went to Tiffany, who also asked for a coke and the waitress did the exact same thing to her. Tiffany gave her the did you not clean your ears this morning look. We were finally filled in by a couple at a neighboring table who got a kick out of us, that 'coke' meant soda/pop.

The house...

We have a garage floor!

From the front: The garage floor

From the front left side: We'll have more 'side yard' and my dining room windows will overlook this area

From the back left: the back and side yard

The house doesn't seem as big as it should be from what we see here... but my floor plans say 2,109 square feet at completion, I think it'll mostly from the upstairs :o)

We have our pre-construction meeting on Monday (23rd) and the following day lumber drops! It looks like we're set to close the second week of September. Please help us pray for buyers on our condo to come soon!

Happy Father's Day!

To our Dad's

We love you both very much!

Oh My Goodness!

So, it's really no secret that I love babies! Or that Ben and I aren't far from the family phase of our life together... And Restoration Hardware has just opened a baby store! Yeah, it's a bit more expensive than Pottery Barn (which isn't much more than some stuff at Target anymore), but it's so stinkin' cute! Hopefully it'll be old news by the time I'm decorating a nursery, maybe I should hide away a little more money into my 'baby' account just in case.

I'm not crazy - The baby account has been a sepearte savings that small amounts go into to supplement my income for maternity leave and hopefully soften the blow of diapers, wipes, diapers, and other essentials... Like diapers! If I can decorate a nursery how I really want to, instead of just what we can afford - that will be an added benefit too. Though with buying a house and selling a year old condo, the baby fund hasn't exactly been getting any love lately... Ah well, a girl can look!

Check it out here!

Oh, and to make matters worse - they have clothes! Cute ones! I think I may have avoided my fear of getting a duplicate gift for Emily and Jared's new little girl with this site!
(Aubrey, it's the girl version of what I got Brady from Merry Go Round!)

Okay, back to work!

Archives

I was taking a look back through some picture directories on the computer this evening and here are a few favorites that I found.

April 2004 - With Chris and Papa in Las Vegas (Gram was snapping the picture.) Ben and I were engaged at the time and every single wedding chapel we went by Papa would say, "I can have him here in 3 hours - just give me the word!" (I miss him!)

December 2004 - There was a box of loli-pops at our wedding rehearsal... Ben and Makenna having a loli-stick sword fight

Dad and me... and our loli's! So classy, I know... It was a Kent wedding after all!

Summer 2005 - Hearing from Ben in Iraq was always so uplifting, he sent this one day with a note that said, "No wonder people are always fighting here... Everyone's always so pissed off because it's so hot!!!"

*Note this was taken sometime before noon - not even as hot as it got... And yes, it is reading in at just under 130 degrees!

July 2005 - The Longhorn : Tiffany and Me (And Jake, back left)

Uncle Larry as Elvis dancing in front of everyone! That was a fun night!

October 1, 2005 - Sea-Tac Airport: Ben coming off the plane

That night, Ben and Ollie catching up on some lost snuggle time.

When Ben got home we brought all his gear into the house with us, Ben took off his blouse (camo top) and dropped it on the floor. Ollie walked over to it, took one sniff and then peed on it! Ben just laughed and said, "Me too buddy, that's what I think too!" (p.s. that was the first and last time Ollie has peed outside the litter box!)

Later October 2005 - Aubrey and I left the rest of the girls with Grandparents after our morning Pumpkin Patch 'photo shoot' and had an afternoon with just Lexi! She was such a great little model for Auntie!

I could probably do this for hours... So I should just stop now and go to bed!

Except that I just found this one...

Summer 2006 - Ben was in the academy. Brendan and Makenna were trying to arrest him. Or, as Brendan kept saying, "Ben, Hod still ... I'm dunna awest you!" This picture totally looks like Ben was ignoring them, he wasn't! He just got a little side tracked because the kids wanted to cuff him themselves and they were taking a while to get it figured out

Okay, Goodnight!

Whole new level of understanding!

I can't believe I forgot to blog this! Ever have those moments when your body actually jolts at the very second you finally 'get it'? ...It clicks in your mind, it feels like you just got smacked, and from somewhere you hear this big giant "DUH!"?

I had one of those Friday night around 1:30 in the morning. Let me preface by saying that it's always an 'event' when I'm reading off directions to Ben in the car, I'll read it line by line from the Google maps print out, but for some reason I'm not speaking his language - we get turned around and then it's somehow my fault!?!

So here we are, 1:30 in the morning and I'm making cupcakes for Emily for Saturday. (We ended up going to the game Friday night so I wasn't able to do them at a decent hour, and we needed to be at their house around 9am... And I'm not a morning person!) I finish the cupcakes and am ready to move onto the frosting. I found a recipe for one on the Internet and Ben was on the computer so I figured, no need to write it down - he can just read it off to me, there's only a few ingredients, it'll be easier this way... Yeah, here's how it went: (Please keep in mind we're ice cream people, not cake and frosting people, so I don't make it!! If I have to - I buy it already done!)

Ben: "'x amount' of Butter... 'x amount' of sugar (he left out the word confectioners because he didn't know what it was... Thankfully I knew I needed the powdered sugar!)... "'x amount' milk"

Christina: "Wait, am I just supposed to be throwing it all in and mixing it together?"

Ben: Getting frustrated that I'm questioning him on such a simple task "Huh?... It just says butter, sugar and then milk..."

So I dump the milk in, not having read the recipe myself, maybe they do get all mixed together - he's LOOKING right at it - he should know. I had the vanilla all ready and love it so I just splashed it in there - no need for measurements on that.

Ben: " Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy and then... Oh!"

Christina: Now in the room giving him the 'are you kidding me, look': "So about a minute ago I asked if I'm mixing them all together... this was when that last phrase would have been appropriate"

Ben: "They're all just in a list..."

Christina: "Have you seen a recipe before? The ingredients are always 'just in a list' - instructions are down below!"

Ben: "Hmmm, well that's stupid"

Still shocked that my 25 year old husband had never seen a recipe before IT hit me! Right then, smack! No longer irritated with him, I immediately felt empathy!

Christina: "Oh my goodness! Is this how you feel when I'm reading directions in the car to you?"

It turned out that it was a crappy recipe, it called for half the sugar than others so it was really runny! I needed to scratch it and try it again anyway...But from here forward, Ben will no longer read me recipes and I will no longer be his navigator!

Our Weekend

So Saturday, I managed to restrain myself from buying baby clothes. The only place I really found anything that I really liked was at Carters, and well - they'll end up with a ton of that stuff! Emily and Jenny bought some stuff while we were there, but I was so good! My goal will be to find something for the new White baby that isn't in every department store from Walmart to Macy's!
Emily just kind of popped out from the last time I saw her and was in need of maternity clothes, finally. We hit the tiny little outlet store at the Supermall and after perusing the store for a few minutes Emily walked into the dressing room with only a couple things that she saw and liked. At this point Jenny and I started to bring her all the cute things that we liked and wanted her to try on, but knew she wouldn't do it unless we had her pinned... We had that girl in there for an hour trying clothes on! After about 45 minutes of us throwing things over the top we could hear her, "This place isn't that big - where are you guys finding this stuff!?!" She opened the door for the 'likes' and the 'unsure's', but all we heard was a laugh with the no's as she'd shove them back out for us to get rid of. There was an adorable dress she put on that she had to have, I grabbed it and made it her birthday gift... It was my favorite thing and I started the day hoping to be able to get her something, so it worked perfectly! We crusied the rest of the Supermall and then headed to Babies R' Us so she could get a better look at things before she starts registering and buying.

Meanwhile back at Jared's, the boys - with Jared's dad Lannie, were working really hard demolishing the bathroom and tearing out water damaged wood from just about every corner of that room. They didn't finish it all, but it was time for Ben and Jared to go to Yelm to pick up Ben's 'new' safe. It's HUGE! Ben can fit ALL his current toys plus a stool to sit in there and play with them all. They hit the scales and the thing weighed in at over 2,220 lbs! It's over 6ft tall, 5 ft wide and at least 3 1/2 ft deep! He found it on Craigslist and got a deal (because it's really old.) At the new house, it's now a 1 car & 1 safe garage! Big thanks to my in-laws for allowing it to sit in their garage until we move. (Ben still has tools in my Dad's garage too - we're scattered everywhere!)

The girls watched 27 Dresses while waiting for the boys to get back... It was really cute, I was surprised! Then when the Y chromosomes made it back it was all Pizza and the MMA fight.

Sunday was not so hectic. Ben slept in as late as he possibly could to get enough rest to go back to work that night. I made him pancakes. We got ready and went to my grandparent's new place to see Aunt Debbie for her birthday. Papa and Ben got to chat while us girls were in the kitchen, it was so nice to catch up again :o)